1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to optical gyroscopes in general, and in particular to high-performance waveguide optical gyroscopes.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical gyroscopes can sense rotation by measuring the difference in time for two light beams (or other electromagnetic waves) to pass in opposite directions through a common loop path. During rotation, the two opposite light beams within an optical gyroscope are out of phase. Specifically, the light beam moving in the direction of rotation will arrive at a detector at a later time than the light beam moving in opposite to the direction of rotation. Thus, by measuring the phase difference between the two opposite light beams within the optical gyroscope, rotation information can be obtained.
However, if the two opposite light beams within the optical gyroscope are only slightly out of phase, then the change in phase difference between the two opposite light beams may not be significant enough to be measured by a detector. For example, prior art optical gyroscopes tend to have less than optimal performance because they are not able to measure very small changes in phase difference between two opposite light beams. Consequently, it would be desirable to provide an improved optical gyroscope having higher detection capabilities.